The Olympics are over, but you’re still itching to learn more about its host country of China. What to do? Lucky for you, Oklahoma City University is rolling out its “Intersections: China” series this fall with lectures, shows and special classes this semester.
A few of the featured activities are free and open to the public including a movie screening, two expert-led lectures and a cultural dance workshop.
The film “To Live” will light up the screen in a sorrowful way at Petree Recital Hall at 2 p.m. Sept. 28. Jhang Yimou’s portrays one family’s trials, triumphs and tragedies through the decades of Chairman Mao’s “Great Leap Forward” of the 1950s and into the Cultural Revolution of the late 1960s. Shen Zhou, on visit from Nankai University, will lead a discussion following the showing of the 1994 Cannes Film Festival Grand Jury Prize winner. The OCU Film Institute is sponsoring the film session.
For those into performance art, OCU’s Community Dance Center will host a two-day Chinese dance workshop from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Oct. 3 and 1-2:30 p.m. Oct. 4 in the Edith Kinney Gaylord Center. Learn the art of traditional Chinese dance from Amy and Diana Chang, two accomplished dancers who have both earned Miss Asia titles in Oklahoma. The workshop is open to residents age 18 and over, and preregistration is required. Call (405) 208-5508 or e-mail Lindsay Chessen at the Community Dance Center, communitydancecenter@okcu.edu, to register.
A lecture called “Mao to Market: Local Protectionism and the Development of Markets in China” will focus on that country’s economic conditions. Guest lecturer Dr. Andrew Wedeman from the University of Nebraska has researched the political economy of reform in China and how corruption has impacted its economy. The lecture will begin at noon Oct. 10, in the Kerr McGee Auditorium in the Meinders School of Business.
The economical subject continues at noon Nov. 7 when Zhou returns to lead a lecture called “China’s Economic Reform: History and Reality.” Zhou is the deputy director of the Department of International Economics and Trade and a professor of economics at Nankai University. He is a visiting scholar this fall at OCU.
Both lectures are free and open to the public.
Young artists are invited to learn Chinese calligraphy and watercolor during a workshop from 9 a.m. to noon Nov. 15. Chiachi Hsiung, from Taiwan, and Zhang Mingwei, from mainland China, will show middle and high school students the art form of “Water and Mo.” Mo is a type of Chinese black ink. The workshop is free to students age 12 to 15 and preregistration is required. Register by e-mail to fineartsinstitute@okcu.edu or call (405) 208-5583.